Charanjit Bakshi
Charanjit Bakshi, Technical Programme Manager, headshot

I take on the work nobody scoped, and make the numbers show up.

I got here one step at a time. I started at Ericsson in 2009, testing the switches a mobile network runs on: nothing went live until every test passed. Then I fixed live networks for operators across Europe and the US. Then I moved into delivery. My first ring migration for Vodafone UK failed badly. I learned the process properly, the next 110 rings went in with no failures from our side, and that record won us two more projects. From there I went from running projects to running programmes, and now to transforming the network itself.

The pattern I'm proudest of is taking work handed over as pure execution, like a circuit migration or a compliance mandate, and finding the commercial problem inside it. Across my programmes that's more than £10M of cost removed so far, with no service impact on the core.

How I work

  • Define done before you start. A link isn't off until traffic data, records and the service owner all agree. A vendor isn't paid until the site is validated.
  • Answer an impossible deadline with a real plan. Asked for an exchange shutdown in two weeks, normally four to five months, I came back with a plan and we finished in two and a half, with zero escalations.
  • Automate the part that never changes. A macro cut config scripts from 20–25 minutes to under five, and I led the team that automated our planning, tracking and SLA alerts.

I'm at my best when a network or a process has to change and the risk is real.

I bring product management to that programme foundation: finding the real problem, making the commercial call, and building AI tools hands-on. I'm applying for technical programme and AI programme roles in the UK. Outside work: football, travel, and reading.

Get in touch

Email
charanjit.b.bakshi@gmail.com
LinkedIn
charanjit-bakshi
Based in
Reading, UK. Open to UK roles, and US-headquartered companies that can hire in the UK.
CV
Programme CV (PDF)

Experience

  1. 2019–now

    Technical Programme Manager

    VodafoneThree (formerly Vodafone), via Interactive Management Solutions

    • Now leading the next stage of the network’s transformation with 3 project managers and a team of nine: clearing SDH/STM and 2G/3G kit out of 25 core exchanges so they can host AWS, NFV and Ericsson platforms, and ending third-party circuits, dark fibre and kit maintenance. On track to save £4.5M+ a year.
    • Bringing 4G to just under 100 remote and island sites over Starlink, and upgrading legacy sites to 4G and 5G. Led the team that automated planning, progress tracking and SLA alerts.
    • Ran the third-party link decommissioning programme end to end (2019–22), from audit to business case to delivery, removing over £6M of recurring opex with a team of nine.
    • Led removal of high-risk-vendor (Huawei) equipment from the core network under UK government direction, rerouting traffic onto Vodafone’s own Ciena network.
    • Executed core upgrades across 700+ devices and delivered transmission work across 500+ sites with BT, Virgin Media, Lumen and Cisco; authored four HLD/LLD designs through to approved proof-of-concept.
  2. 2017–2019

    Programme Manager

    Tata Communications Transformation Services, Pune

    • Led Vodafone UK’s exit from BT and Virgin Media leased fibre across 1,100+ sites: £2M+ of opex removed over two years, with zero escalations.
    • Ran end-to-end Infinera (Tellabs) migrations: site surveys, fibre delivery and rollout plans.
    • Designed new connections from the access network through to the core.
  3. 2013–2017

    Programme Manager

    Aricent (now Capgemini), on site at Vodafone UK, Newbury

    • Ring Migration, 111+ rings: the first ring failed badly because the process wasn’t clear. I learned it in depth and brought it back to the team, and the next 110 went in with zero failures caused by our team.
    • That record won two more Vodafone projects, both led by me: Move/Add/Change on the BEP network, and BEP operational efficiency. Wrote the business cases and proposals.
    • Managed 12 engineers in India and an onshore lead in Newbury.
  4. 2012–2013

    Technical Solution Leader

    Capgemini, Gurugram

    • Global technical support (TAC) on Infinera (Tellabs) 8600 routers for operators across Europe and the US: diagnosing and fixing live faults.
    • On site in Finland, Senegal and Egypt; worked with the Tellabs team in Finland as they built their new system.
    • Set up voice, data, timing and security services (TDM, Abis, Iub, IPsec, PTP, QoS) across 2G, 3G and 4G/LTE, planned in the CRAMER tool.
  5. 2009–2012

    Test Engineer

    Ericsson, Jaipur

    • Tested core switching nodes (BSC, MSC-MGW, HLR, GMSC, MSC-server) and reported results to Ericsson in Sweden. Nothing was signed off until every test passed.
    • New product introduction: the Site Integration Unit in China, and the RRUS radio unit, training in Sweden as Ericsson India took on its repair and manufacturing.

Education & credentials

  • Leading Strategic Project and Programme, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, 2021 (Grade A)
  • PGDBA, Operations Management, Symbiosis, 2010–2012
  • BTech, Electronics & Communication Engineering, SVIET Chandigarh, 2005–2009 (university rank holder)
  • PRINCE2 Agile® Foundation & Practitioner
  • Certified SAFe® Practitioner
  • Cisco CCNA, Routing and Switching
  • SC security clearance, active